From Baghdad, with Love | 
 enlarge | Authors: Jay Kopelman, Melinda Roth
Publisher: Bantam Books
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £7.98 (100%)
New (13) Used (38) from £0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 44044
Media: Paperback
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0553818856
EAN: 9780553818857
ASIN: 0553818856
Publication Date: May 5, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Little River Books dispatch daily from South Wales. Customer satisfaction is our guarantee.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Too much war, not enough dog September 16, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this book thinking it was solely about a dog rescue from Fallujah, Iraq. Although the rescue formed the basis of the story, there was too much detailed reference to the on-going surrounding war for my liking. I know the rescue took place in a war zone and that this is part of the story, but I would have preferred more about Lava, the dog, and his rescue. The book all but ended when Lava had made it to the US, with a short 3 page epilogue about some of the rescuers, Lava and the author. There is an unnecessary (as far as I'm concerned) 11 page bibliography at the end, followed by an 'Acknowledgements' section. Are these here to 'pad' the book out?
I suppose I feel as though the wool was pulled over my eyes by the cute puppy picture, leading me to believe I would be reading about a dog rescue rather than an account of war, with a byline of canine interest. If I had wanted to read about the Iraqi war, I would have bought a book on that subject!
The book comes across as very 'American', forgiveable as written by a US Marine, but more suited to a US audience I think. Disappointing.
 A 'tail' of redemption (sorry couldn't resist the pun) September 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is more than story about a cute puppy (although of course the pictures are indeed adorable).In fact,some of Lava's behaviour (which is not always exemplary)is also affected by the war.It is a story about a tough Marine's redemption from the horrors of his country's war in Iraq through an act of love for a tiny puppy who could so easily have been lost in the brutality and misery which characterises the daily lives of civilians and military alike.Jay Kopelman is honest in describing how his loyalty to his country and to the marines is tested and the impact of the war on his mental health.The squalid and desperate conditions in Baghdad are not dodged.Despite the destruction and impoverishment of his once beautiful city by the Americans,Kopelman describes how an Iraqui civilian(apparently Iraqis think dogs are unclean)is won over by Lava and forages in the ruins of Baghdad for dog biscuits and teaches him to play football;how friends & comrades go to extraordinary lengths to hide Lava from the authorities;and the emotional risks to everyone who becomes attached to the little dog who could be snatched away from them at any moment.I agree that the constant use of 'like' to try & get an authentic voice for the writer is a bit annoying but dont be put off: this is a genuinely life-affirming story about how those caught up in an ugly and futile war,with no real winners, are able to remind themselves that they are still capable of acts of humanity.
The tale that tries too hard July 13, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I found this book both a little bit irritating, and tough-going.
It was irritating because it came across as being written by a teenager, with many sentences being constructed with statements such as "It was, like, ....", "I was, like,...", and "So, I stood....."
It was tough-going because it contained an awful lot of US military terminology, which I, as a non-military UK resident, had absolutely no understanding of.
Of course, part of the pleasure in reading a book is to learn new things, and so you could argue that the experience of learning about how the US military, particularly the Marines, works is reward in itself. I would argue that if I wanted to learn about how the US military works, I would have purchased a book to do just that. I bought this book because I was led to believe that it was about a young pup.
To the author's credit, a dog was involved in the story. However, the more I read, the more I felt a little cheated. The dog seemed to serve as little more than punctuation to the main theme - the author's account of serving in and around Baghdad. All very noble and courageous, but not really as the book is described.
The story is essentially about a young pup that is 'adopted' by the author while serving in Iraq. The tale then unfolds into the struggle that is involved in getting it to the US. That's it. There's no snippets of immense courage shown by the dog, no witty anecdotes, no nothing. It's just a recount of the emails and the paperwork involved. I quickly began to feel that reading the book was about as interesting as reading the original paperwork must have been.
The parts of the story relating to the dog could have been told in very few pages, and, I think it safe to argue that, in terms of actual pages, it perhaps is. However, there are 225 pages, with very few of them being directly related to the dog.
The writing style is irritating, the content somewhat misleading, and the military jargon a little too heavy-going. This is another book which, I suspect, will suit a US audience far more than it suits a UK audience. One of the most poorly written books that I've read in a long time.
What a book! July 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I never write reviews about anything, nevermind books! But I just had to do something about this story.
This was, quite simply, the best book I have ever read. End of!!
Truly heartwarming! June 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Just a glimpse of the cover photo and I had to read this one!
The true story of a tiny puppy found by Marines abandoned in Fallujah. They called him Lava and put themselves, journalists and Iraqi Citizens at real risk in this tale of their endless efforts to smuggle him out of Iraq to the States.
The description of a little flea-bitten ball of fluff, with the hair on his neck all puffed up to make him look bigger, roo roo roo-ing at the Marines in an act of bravado is really touching.
Lava turned these war-hardened Marines into mushy individuals and guess what, me too!!
|
|
|
